[Woman disguised as a man + satisfying career progression + golden finger + love interest options]
Du Ruoci opened her eyes in the fictional Ning dynasty, just after the new emperor had ascended the throne.
The original owner had been alone in the world and had disguised herself as a man to register for the imperial examinations. Overworked, she had died in her sleep three days before the exams.
With the deadline only three days away, Du Ruoci stared at the books and poems on her desk, understanding none of them and on the verge of tears.
But there was still hope. The new emperor was fascinated by criminal law and civil cases, and had established law as a third subject for candidates to choose.
Determined to fulfill the original owner's wish to enter government, Du Ruoci switched to the law exam. To her surprise, the cases in the exam were almost identical to those in the casebooks she had studied in her modern-day specialty. On top of that, a golden finger descended from heaven to help her, allowing her to reconstruct each case as if she were there.
A wife is found dead, her brother reports the crime, and her husband and neighbors all tell different stories? The Liang Kuan wife-murder case has the answer.
A husband is poisoned, and his wife and her friend are suspected of adultery and conspiracy? The Yang Naiwu and Little Cabbage case helps overturn a wrongful conviction.
A son avenges his father by murdering a county commandant. What sentence should he receive? It's a reenactment of the Xu Yuanqing revenge case...
Du Ruoci had only meant to pass the imperial examinations, enter government, solve cases, and rise through the ranks.
But she never expected to look back on a life in which she had:
Advocated reforming the imperial examinations and helped break down the outdated rule that women could not serve in government; published a book and created the first self-contained, systematic legal code in history, securing a lasting legacy; and attracted countless admirers and followers, from the emperor to ordinary families...
But all she wants is to tend her ten thousand mu of fertile land, enjoy her enormous wealth, and serve as a good official in peace...
